team owner

Recuperating in the hospital with a busted spleen, Steve Butler probably feels a little stupid right now. Earlier this week, Butler was in Australia training for an upcoming show at Sexpo, the world’s largest Health, Sexuality and Lifestyle exhibition, when porn star Jessica Drake, and her television cameras showed up. Butler is a stunt rider in the Quick-Fix Globe of Death. Up to this point, everything is going good, and then WHAM! Butler spots Drake, and the blood leaves the brain rushing downwards to fill his…uh..well, you know…leaving his poor brain starved of oxygen, resulting in a case of “Watch this shit” syndrome.

Manager and team owner, Gavin Walker put it this way, “As soon as he saw the cameras and Jessica Drake he started showing off and doing tricks he wouldn’t normally do. She is pretty hot.”

According to reports, Butler had previously damaged the spleen in an earlier accident and the intense G-forces of the globe and some high leaps on the HD Sportster finished the job. The spleen, and his ego had to be removed in an emergency operation at Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Actually, we’re just joking about the ego thing. It’s bruised, but intact.

According to the team owner, these type of spleen injuries are common. “A lot of motorbike riders lose them.”

Drake recently appeared in the latest 90 minute episode of the FX drama “Sons of Anarchy.” Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the filming of that show…at least not in real life.

There was no mention of the incident on Drakes official Twitter feed. The only reference was Sunday when she posted, “Yesterday was amazing, rode Harleys everywhere with a stunt team, drove a speedboat, & ate BBQ..”

(Scottsdale, AZ) – August 3, 2011 – Valerie Thompson has partnered with Kerry Alter / Julian Bivins Racing Team to attempt setting multiple land speed records with a BMW 1000 Super bike for the 8th Annual BUB Speed Trials. The team’s goal is to be the world’s fastest 1000cc production motorcycle and gain membership in the prestigious 200 Mph Club. The “200 Mph Club” was formed in 1953. Today there are 678 members, with only 15 females officially listed.

Kerry Alter, partner in the KA/JB Racing Team, explains their decision to hire Valerie, “We started by selecting the perfect bike, the BMW S 1000RR. Next we had to find the best racer to pilot this two-wheeled rocket. Fortunately, both of us had Valerie at the top of our list! After one meeting with Valerie and a hand shake, we had our deal to make another “assault on the salt”. Kerry will also attempt a new land speed record driving a Susuki Hayusbusa in the 1350cc class at this years event.

Julian adds, ”Valerie brings amazing driving talent and competitive spirit to our team. In addition to being an accomplished and fearless racer, she adds great depth to our marketing capabilities. For us, this is the perfect match”.

The BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials are held August 27through September 1 at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats, near Wendover Utah. The event is hosted by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA), which verifies and sanctions all US national records. All world records are verified and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motoclisme (FIM). Over 300 racers will attempt land speed records this year, yet less than 10% will set records based on historical performance, signifying the difficulty of this endeavor.

Valerie Thompson Background

In 2006 & 2007, Valerie set two Land Speed Records at Bonneville piloting a panhead Harley Davidson provided by Keith Ball of Biketnet.com. Valerie has risen from a competitor in the All Harley Drag Racing Association series, to being a team owner/licensed competitor in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock Motorcycle Series in less than five years. The NHRA is the worlds largest drag racing association.

Valerie is also a spokeswoman/motorcycle presenter for the world’s largest auto auction company, Barrett-Jackson, and spokeswoman for “Val’s Pals” Children charities, most notably, HopeKids.

Kerry Alter/Julian Bivins Background

In 2007, Phoenix Arizona resident, Kerry Alter and Julian Bivins joined forces to set a new Land Speed Record in the 1000cc Modified Class at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats. In 2008 Kerry formed Team CrashaLot LSR. By the start of the 2011 season, Kerry had accumulated 5 Land Speed Records, with a top speed of 195.8. Julian is a 2-time Land Speed Record Holder. This year, the team’s goal is set new records in the FIM 1000cc class with Valerie Thompson piloting the BMW 1000cc Superbike.

Multiple world Supercross Champion Chad Reed has confirmed he will be on the startline for the opening round of the 2011 AMA Supercross Championship, but has turned his back on the security of a paid ride.

Defying the trends of the post GFC world, Reed has opted to take his destiny into his own hands by creating his own race team from the ground up.

After 12 years of racing for factory operations throughout Australia, Europe and the United States, Reed will take the helm as both rider and team owner of the newly formed TwoTwo Motorsports.

“I am at a point in my career where I am motivated and want to race more than I have for a long time,” Reed said.

“This is the best series with the best riders. This is where my heart is at, where my head is at, and this is where I want to be in the championship and challenge for race wins.

“When I first started out in this sport I looked up to and followed the career of Jeremy McGrath and I feel I can draw some parallels to what he went through. One thing that I have learned from him and from my own years of racing at the top of this sport, is that there comes a time when you have to do it your own way.

“I have always wanted to have my own team. When I came back to Australia I knew I still had the fire in my belly and that night in Newcastle when I raced under my own banner confirmed it for me,” he acknowledged.

“I am aware of the hard work and sacrifice it will take, but in my mind the upside is far greater than the downside.

“If, and when, we win races this year they will be the most satisfying of my career. To win a title with my own team would be the most rewarding thing I have ever done.”

TwoTwo Motorsports have recruited a number of known industry personalities to staff the operation and will field a Honda CRF450 with technical support from the global leaders in aftermarket motorcycle performance products, ProCircuit.

“For me Honda makes the most sense. It’s a bike that I’ve chosen to ride and I enjoy riding it,” Reed acknowledged.

“It’s what I would call a racers bike in the fact that it is very light, very nimble, and it just fits my style very well.

“I’m excited to be riding Honda motorcycles and to have Honda’s support with the program and them to be supporting TwoTwo Motorsports,” he said.

The team’s commercial portfolio already has a solid foundation with leading lubrication technology company Bel-Ray today confirming it will partner with Chad and his team for the 2011 season and beyond.

Bel-Ray Company Inc Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Liquori said the new relationship underlined Bel-Ray’s long-term commitment to the sport of Supercross.

“Our legacy is at the core of who we are as a company,” said Liquori. “Our innovative products are designed to perform under extreme conditions, making them the only platform for any strong competitor.

“We’re proud to support Chad Reed as he embarks on this next chapter of his life story. And just as we were there to support the great riders that came before him, we look to stand beside and support Reed for a long time to come,” she added.

Reed has been buoyed by the progress he and his support network have made in a very short timeframe.

“I am absolutely proud of what we have achieved before even hitting the track,” Reed continued.

“I’m super excited to see Bel-Ray coming back into the sport and refocusing their goals and plans on racing at a top level.

“I’m really proud to have them on board and to have a better understanding of their brand and where their brand has come from, what their brand has been about, and to be a part of their re-launch at the top level of racing.”

Further details about TwoTwo Motorsports will be announced in the coming weeks.